Harsh Realities
by Narcoleptic Suicide
Summary: You've heard the story. Girl wishes baby brother away, goes through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered, and solves the labyrinth thus saving her helpless little brother. However, life isn't a story. The end is death, so what else happens?
1. Prologue

AN: Alright, so this is my second labyfic. This is a fanfiction rather unlike the others that you usually read. I can promise you that this will be a refreshing change. If the pairing is anything it'll be Jareth/Sarah. However, this may turn into a depressing fic. Hope you enjoy!

Harsh Realities

(Prologue)

By: Narcoleptic Suicide

You've heard the story. The story in which the selfish young girl wishes away her bawling baby half-brother to the goblins and their King. In the story the girl travels and defeats the king's labyrinth, refusing her dreams in order to save him from the horrible fate of getting turned into a goblin. Of course, as all of our modern day tales go, the girl defeats the king, turning down all of his attempts to dissuade her from taking her brother back. The young heroine wins and the evil villain loses, ending up rejected in the rubble of his once magnificent Escher room. The girl then returns home with her brother, and throws a celebration with the denizens of the labyrinth (all aside form the king). This is where the story ends. The so-called "happy ending".

Many believe after the girl's harsh rejection of him, that the king would remain seemingly lifeless, dying inside from the rejection of his beloved. That eventually he might even come up with a clever plan to get her back and win her heart after a period of a few years. This never happened. I can assure you that this far-fetched fairytale ideal, will never take place as well.

The Goblin King isn't of a very mushy sort, as a matter of fact many would call him cruel, but any of his citizens would protest against the very idea of Jareth being called a villain. That would simply be ridiculous.

The Goblin King has no power over anyone aside the citizens of his kingdom unless of course they allow him to hold the power over them. Beware, once allowed, you will never again be considered an equal to Jareth. He will hold power over you for all eternity. Trust me, no matter how many people say that "Forever is not long at all" it's the longest thing there is.

Jareth has simply existed, since the beginning of the Undergroud, he is one of the few first generation fae, and is involved in both the Seelie and Unseelie courts. There are thirteen first generation fae and each is assigned to a very important station. Jareth was given the labyrinth as his post along with the title of " Lord of the Labyrinth". Later a race of strange creatures forged by the nightmares of children invaded his territory and became a nuisance that could not be terminated. They multiplied like rabbits. Soon, there were so many that a city was being built in the area around his castle. The creatures were named "Goblins" and adopted by the labyrinth as it's playful citizens. So, the "Lord of the Labyrinth" became the "King of the Goblins".

Jareth was an arrogant fae. He was powerful, reigned over a kingdom, and held control over a mighty unsolvable labyrinth. Not only that, but he was charming and extremely good-looking; he had bedded nearly every lady in both the Seelie and Unseelie courts. Once Jareth got the goblins, things got complicated. You see, the labyrinth lives off of the dreams of the mortals of the aboveground. As you know, along with dreams come nightmares, so the nightmares were released by the labyrinth as horrible looking little monsters that he had to rule. He then learned that because of the horrid little creatures, he had to respond to the wishes of any mortal whom wished someone away to the goblins. He was the "Goblin King" of course. Many people wished away children, siblings, mothers, and fathers. None ever defeated the labyrinth in the time limit of thirteen hours.

Then, sometime during the twentieth century, (around the 1980's he presumed) he felt the pull of a dreamer. This was odd. People had begun to lose faith in the Underground, many had stopped believing in it altogether. The fact that someone believed in him was strange, but the fact that it was strong enough to affect him in such a powerful way was astounding. He brought himself aboveground in his animalistic form, a white barn owl.

The girl was beautiful in human terms. Her long dark brown hair fluttered in the wind, somewhat restrained by the circlet of flowers that sat upon her head. She was dressed in an icy blue dress that clung to her maturing figure, under the dress she was wearing the odd blue pant the humans called "jeans". Her eyes were what captured him. Misty emeralds that stared ahead as she slowly walked forward, determination flashing within them. He listened closely to hear what she was saying.

"Through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered, I have fought my way here to the castle beyond the goblin city." The girl declared. At hearing this, Jareth felt a shiver go down in feathered back at the words. She knew of the labyrinth. She knew of _him_.

"For my will is as strong as yours, and my kingdom as great." She continued to her unknown audience. He had never heard the words spoken so determinedly, so truly. He had heard them before of course, but never with such conviction.

" …And my kingdom as great…" she muttered. " Damn, I can never remember that line."

"Perhaps you forget because you know it isn't true." The king thought to himself with a wicked grin.

" You have no power over me." She said dejectedly after reading the words from the red leather bound book in her hand. The clock tower struck the hour, and the mysterious girl took off, followed by her strange fluffy companion. Jareth soared into flight, following the strange mortal to her home.

" I'll have to keep an eye on this one." He told himself as he returned to his castle. " Perhaps she will become another wisher." He then summoned a crystal to his hand. An image of Sarah being in an argument over babysitting her baby half-brother was shown.

" Yes I do believe she will." he mused to himself with a laugh as he tossed the crystal into the air

The girl did wish away her half brother, the very night he discovered her as well. She had been simply delicious with her innocence. Asking politely for the return of her brother. She had even pushed aside his offer of giving her her dreams. The girl's name was Sarah. Sarah Williams. Her brother's name was Toby, he was a "lively little chap" as Jareth put it.

Sarah was a spoiled fifteen-year-old girl who buried herself in the fantastical as a way to distance herself from the betrayal of her mother just up and leaving her. She was stubborn with quite a temper to match. He didn't believe she would get very far, but he did get an odd feeling from the girl now and then. Somehow, the girl befriended two of the unfriendliest creatures in his labyrinth, along with a fox that not even he could force from his post at the bridge in the Bog of Eternal Stench. They helped her get deeper and deeper into his labyrinth. He had made many attempts to make her lose her track; he had sent the cleaners after her after she had smart mouthed him. His labyrinth, a piece of cake? Hah!  
Ah, but she was courageous. She had even stopped in her running away from the hunk of metal and knives in order to help that dwarf Higgle- oh, excuse me, Hoggle-from getting killed. Jareth even went as far as a poisoned peach, with an after affect of amnesia, which he gave to Hoggle so that Sarah may receive his precious little gift. She made her way to the bog before he knew it, and that little dwarf had still not given the girl his gift. Eventually, the dwarf gave it to her after she claimed to be hungry. After taking a single bite, brilliant Sarah noticed that it was different than an ordinary peach. However it was too late for her to do anything about that. Hoggle ran, and her other friends continued on unknowingly forward, believing her to be right behind them.

Little did they know…

Jareth gave her a beautiful dream, a crystal ballroom, he danced and sung to her. She looked every bit the meaning of her name, "Princess". He began to realize how entranced by her he was becoming. He felt rapture for everything that she was. Her wide, innocent-looking eyes gazing up at him in wonder, now that had been a great dance. He knew that she was a far cry from being completely innocent. He knew that her eyes held the capability to be cruel, cruel like his were. Jareth began to realize just how very deep his feelings for this mortal were becoming. He wasn't sure what they were, but he knew that they existed.

However, Sarah broke free from the dream when the clock struck twelve, signaling that she had but an hour to free little Tobias. She shattered the dream. What a pity. Now she would have no memories and be alone. However, Sarah was to surprise him yet again, the girl-who-ate-the-peach-and-forgot-everything, remembered.

Sarah was reunited with her friends, much to Jareth's distaste. Not that it mattered; the traitors would be punished later. Especially that annoying little dwarf Hedgewart. Jareth sent out his goblin guard to deal with them. She overcame them too. She had overcome every single obstacle he had sent at her. Could she possibly win? No, that was impossible. It had never happened before, and there were people far better than Sarah Williams who had tried and failed to defeat his labyrinth. Jareth was wrong.

Not only had Sarah Williams defeated him and gotten her brother back, but she had _rejected_ him. Ignored him as he begged her to listen to him. He offered her her dreams yet again, and the offer was immediately shot down.

" Just fear me, love me, do as I say, and I will be your slave." Jareth had pleaded softly. He had thought he had her, she had stopped, forgotten the final line. He raised the crystal in her direction, offering it to her. Then it all shattered.

" You have no power over me." Sarah gasped out merely seconds before time was out. Jareth thought he saw tears in her eyes, but dismissed the idea as he tossed the crystal in her direction, a mournful look upon his face. The girl reached out to catch the crystal, and it disinigrated as soon as it touched her hand. Jareth transformed into an owl and returned her to her home, flying out the window.

The Goblin King watched as she celebrated her victory over him and his labyrinth. She deserved it, he figured. She was the first person to ever solve his labyrinth. He just hoped that it wouldn't become a fad. The last thing he needed would be to have a repeat of this experience, people may believe that he was getting lazy. He had a reputation to keep after all.

Jareth wondered how the courts would react to this, would it bode well? Like he cared. He was elder to every single one of those beings. Briefly he pondered over the idea of seeking revenge upon his cruel little Sarah. However decided it would be a waste of energy.

" I wonder when the next ball is?" he thought to himself and then grinned. Hey, he wasn't about to let one measly-but beautiful-mortal girl put him down. He was going to, what is it humans say? Ah, yes. " Get back up on the horse."

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AN: Alright, so I'll continue this soon. I hope to make this a long fanfic that I can update in my free time. I'll have a lot of it soon. One more week left in school after all! The prologue is almost four pages, so I hoped you like it. You won't have to worry about short chapters with me, so enjoy the fanfic!


	2. Chapter One

AN: Here we go, the first chapter! I am so freaked out that it is the end of the school year, you don't even know. Tomorrow I have a baseball game to go to. I'm not necessarily a baseball fan, but it's a free be-with-your-friends school trip, so I figured I might as well go. Plus my boyfriend is going and I just love talking to him, although I've been hanging out with him a lot lately. I can't wait for the semi-formal that's coming up! XP So Excited! Anyway, I better get to writing this. Don't forget to review people! You'll get the title after you read it.

Harsh Realities

Chapter One:

Names Have Power, Sarah…

By: Narcoleptic Suicide

Small clear streams traveled the pale unblemished skin of her face as she sat with her head between her knees on her windowsill. She choked back a sob as his name passed through her mind. _Jareth… _Her eyes were red and puffy and her hair was frizzy and unkept.

She wasn't exactly sure what had triggered the reaction. After she returned from her trip through the labyrinth she had been fine, she had even had a party. It was exactly one week from when she had won back her brother and when the clock hit midnight, she had begun to cry.

All the girl knew was that she was happy for the lack of parents in the household. She knew that her dad and Karen were only trying to help, but all she wanted when they were pestering her about what was wrong was to be left alone. This event was no exception.

The girl trudged her way to her twin-size canopy bed and plopped down onto it. She tossed over to her side, facing the vanity at her bedside. Her throat clenched and felt even sorer than it already was. Tears began to rebuild in her eyes as she gazed at the figurine of the Goblin King. The tears broke free from the dam yet again and flooded her nose and cheeks with its salty presence.

" Why am I so emotional?" Sarah groaned and stuffed her puffy face into the pillow. Sarah's moment of misery was interrupted by the sounds of Toby wailing from his crib.

" Wait a minute Toby, I'm coming!" she responded and dragged herself off of the bed. She was determined to treat Toby well now; he was her little baby brother. She'd almost lost him once, and there was no way in the Above-or under-ground that she was going to let that happen again.

It had been foolish of her to wish him away-not that she really thought it would happen in the first place- he was after all, her _brother_. The very thought that she would do such a thing seemed so ridiculous now that she would have laughed had it not been for her strangely unexpected after-party depression. Opening the door to her parent's room, Sarah got an odd sense of deja vu. This was very similar to that one night that she had entered this room with Toby crying and wished him away to the goblins, although this time she was not filled with anger or spite. She slowly walked to Tobias' crib and leaned over the side of it to pick him up. Sarah held him in the correct position, cuddling him and bouncing him softly. He began to quiet down; obviously someone didn't like the thunder. The storm had yet to pass, although Sarah wished that it would. She had a strange feeling of foreboding because of it.

Sarah returned him to his crib and laid him upon it, then pulling up the blanket over his small toddler body to keep him warm and comfortable. She smiled when he stretched-clenching his little fists- and yawned a small cute noise of tiredness. She couldn't even imagine what he had gone through; he must have had a long thirteen-well, ten actually…-hours. She felt incredibly guilty over wishing him away.

" Damn, crying again…" Sarah muttered to herself. She lifted her right arm and wiped away the tears with the sleeve of her poet's shirt. The fifteen-year-old girl would probably feel guilty over this for the rest of her life, for her forever. What if she had _lost_? Toby would belong to _him_, to that wretched _Goblin King. _Then again, it wasn't as if it was the Goblin King's fault. It was hers. Still, she didn't know that he would actually show up and claim her helpless little half brother.

" I learned many lessons along the way." She thought sadly smiling bitterly, " I also gained some very good friends."

Sarah's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a car coming up the driveway. Quickly glancing at the clock she noticed that it was thirty minutes 'til

One. She ran to her room and softly shut the door. Robert and Karen expected her to be in bed by 11:30 pm on weekends, they would be quite cross if she was wandering the house at this late at night, although, it should actually be early in the morning… then again, does it truly matter?

Forgetting to shed her clothing in her haste, Sarah climbed into bed fully clothed in her grimy ensemble covered in dust from her long day spent playing with Toby in the park. Laying her head down to her pillow, the girl closed her eyes and went to sleep.

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_The sun shone down on the massive maze with an intense heat that made the cracked stone of the walls seem even drier, something that seemed impossible in her mind. No clouds were in the sky, it remained a desolate field of endless light blue, a color very similar to the dress Sarah had worn whenever she recited lines from "The Labyrinth". Previously, "The Labyrinth" had been one of her favorite books. It was her solace from the harsh reality of the world that she lived in. But no more, it was now a haunting memory of the unknown._

_Cautiously, Sarah stepped forward. Suddenly a barrage of questions that her mind now held assaulted her. Why was she here? Was this merely a dream, or had she unknowingly been whisked away from the warm comfort of her bed and into the dusty roofless halls of the Labyrinth? Was this some sort of revenge that the Goblin King had tossed her into? _

_" No. This must be a dream." The girl told herself as she determinedly took a step forward. _

_" Well, well, well, what do we have here?" mocked a voice that Sarah found familiar._

_She swung around only to find that she was now in a rather familiar throne room standing right in front of a rather familiar Goblin King. Her mouth opened slightly in surprise and she found herself oddly dizzy._

" _Ah, feeling slightly dizzy are we?" the Goblin King asked with a smirk after noticing her slight swaying as she stood before him. "That would be from the sudden transportation from my labyrinth to my castle." He then explained, labeling his property rather possessively._

_The girl tried to think of a retort, but such was her shock of seeing the Goblin King yet again that she couldn't think of anything._

_With nothing else to say, Sarah simply asked, " Where are all of the Goblins?"_

_" What no hello to an old friend?" he teased. He only got a glare in return. _

"_How should I know? This is after all, a dreamscape. They are not here unless you wish them to be." He answered._

_" So this really is a dream. You're not really here." She stated with finality._

_" Why Sarah, are you actually disappointed?" he asked with wonder. " And here I thought you didn't like me."_

_Sarah clenched her teeth in annoyance. He always knew how to get on her nerves. _

" _Stupid arrogant Goblin King…" she said under her breath. _

_"What was that Sarah?" he asked politely, his eyebrows lifted high in question, however a slight hint of his trademark smirk still lingered on his lips. The girl found herself wondering what it would feel like to kiss those lips and hopefully wipe that smirk right off of his face, but then turned red at the very thought. She briefly wondered if she was crazy, and then dropped the idea, dreams were always strange… or at least hers were. _

_The Goblin King noticed her flaming cheeks and thought of commenting about it, but then let the thought flutter away from his mind. Was she blushing because she was embarrassed that he had heard her insult him, or for a whole other matter entirely? Perhaps she had an embarrassing stray thought? He allowed his mind to wander on the different possibilities, but then let go of the matter entirely. _

_" Wait. If this a dream… then why are you here? Why would I dream of you mocking me in your throne room?" she asked accusingly._

_" Sarah, Sarah, Sarah, how should I know? I am merely a figment of your overly active imagination." He said._

_"Sure you are." She said suspiciously, eyes looking into his to see if she could trace a lie. He looked perfectly sincere, however, the labyrinth had taught her that things are not always as they seem. Sarah decided to voice this thought._

_" You seem to be telling the truth. But then again, as your labyrinth taught me, things are not always what they seem." _

_" You mean to say that things are not as they seem here in he labyrinth?" he asked. _

_" No, things are not always as they seem __**everywhere**__." She corrected._

_The Goblin King made a noise of acknowledgement before saying something, " So you did learn something from your visit to the labyrinth. The trouble was worth something after all."_

_" You had trouble?! You didn't have to take my half brother Goblin King!" she responded with fury._

_" I didn't just take him, you asked me to take him away from you and I took him." He answered, obviously loosing his patience. " And please stop referring to me as "Goblin King", it tends to get annoying."_

_" Ohg, really? Then pray tell what should I call you your majesty?" Sarah asked still feeling annoyed._

_" Your majesty has a nice ring to it, but seeing as you more than likely wouldn't use it, my name is Jareth, and I will permit you to use it so long as you stop calling me by my title." Jareth said._

_" But I thought it was disrespectful to call a king only by his name…" she said._

_" Well, seeing as you are not one of my subjects and I am not your king, you calling me by my name alone is tolerable." He explained._

_" All right then, Jareth." She stated testing his name on her tongue. It was pleasant to say at least, and she was sick of saying "Goblin King" all of the time. _

_Realizing that he had lead her away from the original path of conversation, Sarah said, " You changed the subject!"_

_" Why yes. Thank you for refreshing that memory, I forgot." He replied mockingly while slowly spinning a crystal on his fingertips._

_" What is it with you and mocking me? Or do you do it to everyone?" she asked in a thoroughly annoyed tone. _

_" You're changing the subject." Jareth reprimanded._

_" Ugh! You're impossible!" Sarah shouted in exasperation. _

_" Now Sarah, I know I'm attractive, however-" he began, only to be interrupted by a very indignant Sarah._

_" That's not what I meant!" she sputtered, " I can't stand you!"_

_Jareth grinned in an attractively malicious way and stood up from his throne. His grin turned into an arrogant smirk he strode in her direction, stopping when he was a foots distance from her and leaning forward until their faces were only inches apart. His hands were clasped behind his back and his face relaxed, loosing its usual form of a smirk. _

_" I'm sure it was…" he stated, obviously not believing what she was saying. _

_" It was!" she yelled. Could he ever just stop the teasing and mocking? Wait, was she blushing?_

_" Damn it! I think I am." She complained mentally. He was just SO close. His nose hovered less than an inch from hers._

_" I didn't say that it wasn't." he said with a shrug. Thankfully for Sarah, he backed up, however, he then began circling her, leaning almost as close as he was earlier. She felt almost as through she was his prey. Jareth seemed a hunter, circling her like a vulture. It unnerved her. It was, well… unnerving!_

_" What are you doing? She stuttered out in an attempt to break the silence that was suffocating her. _

_" Why, isn't it obvious?" he said softly, as though he was talking to a child "I'm evaluating you. I am trying to understand why you are dreaming of me. Why do you dream of me, Sarah?" _

_" I- I don't know…" she answered hopelessly. _

_" Of course you do." He muttered into her ear persuasively, " Just tell me Sarah." _

_Every single time he said her name she felt like her mind was getting foggier and foggier. She felt as though she was slipping deeper and deeper into a spell he had woven. The whole situation was hopeless. Sarah felt like she couldn't possibly resist answering anything he asked her._

_" No! He isn't a figment of my imagination; this is affecting me far too much to not be him. It's Jareth, not merely a dream." she thought stubbornly. _

_" Stop that…" she slurred. _

_Jareth smiled softly and answered, " Stop what?"_

_" Stop whatever," she stopped to catch her breath, it was getting harder for her to breath, each breath got harder and harder to take, "spell you've woven, Jareth. I know it's really you"._

_" Are you willing to bet on that?" he asked, referring to her still believing him to be the real thing, to truly be there._

_She paused and looked into his mismatched eyes, " Yes. I am certain that you are not a figment of my imagination. You have too much- I mean, are affecting me too much to not be Jareth."_

_"Does that mean that I do have power over you Sarah?" he asked pulling her back into the enchantment. _

_" No Jareth." she snapped, " You were irresistible and you knew it!"_

_" Did I?!" he demanded, " Did I truly know that Sarah, are you sure?!"_

_This time when he said her name it didn't do anything aside from send a confusing shiver down her back. For some reason she thought that that shiver wasn't in response to fear. He reached out as if to grab her by the shoulders, and then suddenly stopped when his hands rested but inches from her. _

_Jareth pulled back, a rather irritated face lay on his fine features. He then muttered, " Damn rules." Thus confusing Sarah even more._

_What the hell did he mean by "Damn rules"? Was something keeping him from touching her? No, he had touched her when they had danced in the crystal ballroom. Perhaps it was a benefit she got from defeating him and his labyrinth… Sarah didn't know. So, being the curious little minx that she is, Sarah decided that she would make an attempt to get some answers. _

" _What do you mean by " Damn rules"? What rules could you possibly be talking about?" she questioned._

_" It doesn't matter, they are far beyond your limits of understanding." he stated flippantly. _

_" Are you saying that I am stupid?" she asked. Sarah was beginning to believe that he very much thought her to be, and to tell the truth, she felt extremely upset with the very idea._

_" I am saying you could not possibly comprehend the rules. So, I am not calling you stupid, merely not intelligent enough to understand anything I could tell you about them."_

_Not intelligent?! She'd show that arrogant asshole. God damn it, she defeated him and his labyrinth! _

_Before Sarah knew it, she had strode the foot between them and slapped him as hard as she could across the face, making his left cheek as red as hers. She immediately paled when she realized what she had done, but refused to stand down, he had insulted her and had most definitely deserved that slap. Sarah felt a twinge of regret for marring the one pale striking face of the Goblin King, but the thought dropped when she heard a strange noise begin to escape from Jareth's mouth. _

_Sarah then realized that he was laughing, at her! Her pale cheeks once again flamed into life and she lifted her chin slightly. Feeling rather indignant, she crossed her arms in front of her and glared at him with what she hoped was hostility. _

_" I have been waiting so long for you to do that!" Jared said merrily, his voice still holding that ring fo laughter. Sarah's arms dropped with her mouth as she gazed at him in astonishment, her left eyebrow cocked slightly higher than the right. Had she gone insane?_

_Then Jareth spread his arms and leaned forward making it seem as though he was going to embrace her. Suddenly a bright blinding light flashed in front of Sarah, and then there was nothing but darkness. _

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To Whom It May Concern,

I hoped you enjoyed this chapter; it's 5 ½ pages. I had a lot of fun writing it. So, do you think that it's Jareth in the dream or is he just merely a part of the dream her mind imagined? You'll find out, if not next chapter, then soon. That's obviously not the end of this confrontation, but the end of the chapter, it was getting a tad too long. Goodbye people, see ya soon!

Best regards,

Narcoleptic Suicide


	3. Chapter Two

AN: God, I love MCR! They rock my socks. I just got two new My Chemical Romance CD's (I haven't been able to find them anywhere for some odd reason I don't know…) I got, " Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge" and " I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Heart". I already have " The Black Parader", and I love that CD. Any MCR fans? What are your favorite songs? Anyway, I got to get on with the fic :P.

Harsh Realities

Chapter Two:

Strange Reunions With Old Acquaintances

By: Narcoleptic Suicide

Sarah woke with a start. She brought her hand to her forehead and wiped the coating of sweat off of her brow. The sunshine was blinding so she turned to her other side and buried her face into the pillow groaning. She felt like she hadn't slept at all.

" What an odd dream…" Sarah thought to herself. She tried to remember exactly what had taken place in it, but all memory of the dream was already fading.

" Oh well," she said aloud, " At least it's a nive day."

It was indeed a beautiful dayt. The sun shone through the window, a crisp aqua that remained unmarred by any fluffy white-or dark blue-clouds. A soft breeze flowed through her opened window and she lifted her head momentarily from her pillow to feel it run through her dark hair.

Sarah sat up and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. She then yawned and stretched her arms above her head, clenching hands together and twisting her body to the right. Resisting the urge to flop back onto the bed, she forced herself off the fluffy, cozy trap of doom and walked out of her room and into the bathroom down the hall. Sarah went through her usual morning routine and then noticed she was in the same clothing that she had worn yesterday.

" I must have forgotten to change in my panic." She reasoned to herself and then ran to her room to change. She slipped into a green cotton tee shirt and blue jeans. Sarah then put on a pair of well-wornb sandals and trudged down the stairs.

" Hey, Sleeping Beauty has aweoken!" her father announced jokingly. He sat at the table, a cup of coffee in his right hand as he read the newspaper.

" I didn't sleep in that late dad." she said and rolled her eyes at his antics.

" It's noon Sarah." Stated Karen, her stepmother, as she walked in with a tray of blueberry muffins.

"Are you joking?!" asked an alarmed Sarah, " I never sleep in that late…"

" Well, apparently now you do." Her father muttered; he was currently immersed in a sports article. Football, she'd bet, but Sarah didn't really care for sports. She was one of those creative types, and certainly not athletic. Sure, she did well in gym, but she wasn't about to commit her life to the physical fitness and hard work sports demanded.

" Sarah, would you mind going down to the store? I need some items for dinner tonight." Karen asked.

Sarah wanted to groan, but contained herself and grabbed a muffin. "Sure, what are we having?"

" Well, I thought that we should have chili tonight, we haven't had it for a while." the stepmother said.

"Alright." Sarah said through her muffin, it was barely audible.

Sarah finished up her muffin and tossed the wrapper into the trashcan. Before she walked out of the door, she made sure to grab the grocery list and money from the counter. She set off down the sidewalk at a jog, hoping to make better time so she could go to the park after she retrieved the needed items.

When she reached Hannaford she stopped and walked in catching her breath. Sarah walked down the long aisles, grabbing each item and placing it in the cart. She then made her way to the cash register with the shortest line and began to place each food item onto the belt.

" Sarah? Is that you?" asked a rather familiar voice. She glanced up from placing the items on the belt and saw a rather familiar face.

" Oh, Jeremy! I haven't seen you in a while! I didn't even recognize you until I heard your voice." she exclaimed as she gazed into his blue eyes.

" It has been quite a while hasn't it? Since the final performance of Oklahoma last summer for the Summer Stage project, right?" Jeremy asked with a grin and a far off look on his features, obviously remembering the good old times.

" Yeah. I really miss that cast. You were such a good ----!" she complimented.

"Well, you were a good Gertie too. Although I still think that you should have been Laurie. Are you doing the Summer Stage Project this summer?" he asked.

" Of course. Are you?" she responded.

" Yes, you are trying out for the lead, right?" Jeremy said.

" It depends, what's the play?" she asked.

" Actually, they're doing a musical again"

" For the second time in the row? That's weird, it was strange that they did a musical last year, but two years in a row?"

"Yeah, I know. Mrs. Shaw is going through a musical phase. We'll be doing, _The Phantom of the Opera_."

" I love Andrew Lloyd Webber, he's a musical genius!" she exclaimed.

" I know. But are you trying for lead?"

" I'll try, but don't think I'll get it… I never do, I'm usually the supporting actress, a big role, but never the lead. I'm sure you'll do great! You might even get Erik, and if not him, then Raoul.

" Sarah, don't be a pessimist. You have a good chance of getting lead."

" Maybe." Sarah said, still feeling doubtful. However, before the conversation continued, another costumer who was waiting to buy her food interrupted it. They both apologized and chatted a bit over the musical as he finished ringing up all of her items.

" Well, it was great seeing you again, Jeremy." Sarah said as she paid him.

"Yeah it was. Do you mind giving me your number? I want to talk to you more, but summer is still a couple of months away. " Jeremy asked shyly as he ran his long fingers through his dark brown hair, a faint blush on his cheeks.

"Sure" Sarah replied, beginning to blush slightly as well. She wrote her number on the back of her receipt and handed it back to him.

" Hear from you soon." She said as she walked out of the store with her groceries in hand.

" Count on it!" he yelled back as she walked away causing her to laugh softly to herself.

That had been an unexpected run-in. She had most definitely enjoyed it though. Perhaps she could develop a normal friendship out of this? Then again, maybe not. She never did have much luck gaining normal friends. But then again, where was the fun in that?

………………………………………………………………………………………………

AN: Alright, I know, it's short. Only three pages, bla bla bla. The reason this is shorter than usual is because this is the best place to stop. The next chapter will be longer, I promise. It just doesn't work as well to end it in another place. I am not very happy with this chapter… Sorry about the guy's name, it's my bf's name and I haven't seen him since school ended, so that's the only name I can think of, aside from Steven… but that's the name of one of my best friends, and doesn't seem to work well enough for the character.:P Sorry, please forgive me for the chap, I'll make it up to you next time. --


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